If you’re feeling discouraged about your own garden, or simply want to experience botanical wonders, next weekend’s Edmonton Horticultural Society’s Garden Tour is a must. The annual tour is a chance to linger and admire experienced gardeners’ labours’ of love, along with being awed and inspired by what can be grown in our city.

If you’re feeling discouraged about your own garden, or simply want to experience local botanical wonders, next weekend’s Edmonton Horticultural Society (EHS) Garden Tour is a must. The annual tour is a chance to linger and admire experienced gardeners’ labours of love, along with being awed and inspired by what can be grown in our city.

Rosemarie Pelz is the EHS’s lead for selecting the gardens for this year’s tour, and started looking for potential nominees last year. She says some of the eight private landscapes that comprise this year’s offerings are already award-winning. But, what makes the tour so special, is that their creators will be on-hand to share the stories of their unique spaces.

Relaxation and balanced energy

In Stephen Chan’s feng shui garden, Pelz encourages visitors to slow down and absorb the zen-like feeling evoked by its forest-like undulating trails, rock faces and hidden areas, along with the various viewpoints Stephen has painstakingly built using tonnes of rock and soil.

“He’s created mountains,” says Pelz, adding that the rocky precipices, of course, are not full-sized, but provide a variety of vantage points that change the viewer’s perception of lower elevations.

Meandering pathways made of natural materials draw visitors into the principles of feng shui, with its aim of balancing the earth’s five elements in order to nurture peace and harmony. Stephen says the space is a testament to the therapeutic journey he experienced while creating his dream of a perennial-filled, western alpine rock garden. The process began almost two decades ago when he felt burned out by his busy job and longed to step out his back door into nature.

Visitors will note details like curved lines, instead of straight, to create good energy, and multiple water features — including a waterfall. The multi-season garden also includes a goldfish pond, bridges, and even a prairie-style version of cherry blossoms. Elements like fire are represented by red plants, and metal is represented by wind chimes.

Pushing boundaries and zone defying

If you want to experience tropical majesty and a garden that was created in just a few years, a visit to Shaif and Mary Jetha’s oasis is a must. Mature evergreens combine with a lawn that Shaif jokes has raised the bar for lawn care along their road. Simple plantings of hydrangeas and ivy hint at what lies beyond the side pergola.

Even though the garden is just five years old, it includes numerous prairie-hardy trees, including larch and blue spruce that survive winter in large containers. No growing corner has been overlooked, including the rear alleyway where potted, decorated evergreens greet the couple during the holiday season. Shaif’s most recent creation is a cheerful growing corner dedicated to the garbage bins.

“They’re just plants,” says Shaif, who scours the city for deals on greenery and will give just about anything that grows the chance to thrive under his care.

The yard is dotted with potted plants and vines that would never survive Edmonton winters. Instead, each fall, Shaif moves all 90 containers into a special curtained section of the heated garage, to protect them from winter’s blasts.

The couple harvests pounds of honey and black figs, which they savour with brie cheese on the inviting patio. Summery drinks are extracted from their single, grafted cocktail tree, which produces limes, lemons and oranges. Bananas, grapefruit and pomegranate share space with King Tut grass, hostas, bamboo, holly, and roses. Gorgeous passion, mandevilla, jasmine, wisteria and trumpet flower vines clamour to attract hummingbirds. Coveted Japanese maples compete with showy bougainvillea for attention.

Despite the botanical variety, Shaif admits that black-eyed Susans are his favourite flower, and the combined textures and colour — especially chartreuse — created by the foliage is what he favours. The couple enjoys entertaining and sharing the space with neighbours. Shaif says to ensure marital harmony, Mary contributes to its care when she is inclined, and her only request is that she gets to plant the length of the south-facing alley fence with her beloved sweet peas.

A garden of wonder and delight

Pauline Farmer describes her vast garden with its magnificent view of the river valley as a work in progress, but her decades of loving dedication are reflected by the visual treat it creates. Be sure to appreciate the form, shape and texture displayed by the collection of evergreens and variety of weeping trees. Pauline had massive feature rocks delivered by crane, and her plant beds are lined with large stones and rocks, rather than mulch.

“Aesthetically it looks amazing,” says Pauline, who confesses to hiring a professional gardener for help with heavy lifting. But, even with the help, she spends at least a couple hours a day doing “the loving and weeding.”

Pops of bright coral in the front of the property are created by enormous tulip geraniums from Morinville. They are paired with hanging baskets of dragon-winged begonias. The secluded, country-like rear of the property features perennials including roses, peonies, and both tiger and Asiatic lilies that are a favourite of visiting rabbits.

Pauline loves succulents, so be sure to admire — but don’t touch — the four-foot wide, razor-sharp cactus that overwinters in her heated greenhouse, with a variety of low-maintenance aloe. Be enchanted by the magical fairy garden, try counting the elusive koi in their watery home, and keep an eye out for the fabulous frogs.

2017 EHS GARDEN TOUR

The 2017 Edmonton Horticultural Society Garden Tour features eight sites that have been chosen based on their beauty and variety, demonstrating the talent and hard work of local gardeners. Visitors are encouraged to respect their surroundings and speak with hosts along the way, sharing information and helpful tips

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